Archive for preparedness

We will be facilitating a FireSmart Community Champion Course from 9am-1pm on Sunday, June 7th. This course will be taught via the Zoom online platform.

This course is meant for people who are willing to become leaders in their neighbourhoods, and will outline how they can be involved in the FireSmart Community Recognition Program, and help reduce the risk of a wildfire devastating their neighbourhood.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Gabriola Volunteer Fire Department as well as some of the other emergency services (Excluding BCAS) on the island are sending out a request for any personal protective equipment such as N95 surgical Masks to be donated to emergency personal. We are running low on vital supplies that keep our responders and health care workers safe. The normal means for us to order these supplies are extremely backed up due to high demand and shortages all over the world. If you have some personal protective equipment that you are willing to part with please contact our office at (250) 247-9677

On Saturday January 25th from 10am to 3pm the Gabriola Fire Hall on Church Street will be hosting an Emergency Preparedness Open House

Multiple agencies will be on-site with demonstrations and information, as well as actively recruiting volunteers:

Gabriola Volunteer Fire Department

HAM radio

RCMP

BC Ambulance Service (BCAS)

Royal Canadian Marine Search and Rescue (RCMSARS)

Emergency Social Services (ESS)

Pets and Livestock Services (PALS)

Neighbourhood Emergency Preparedness Services (NEPS)

Regional District of Nanaimo (RDN)

Two of the main presentations will be Neighbourhood Emergency Preparedness by NEPS and Downed Power Line Safety by BC Hydro. There will also be demonstrations on live fire, CPR, fire extinguishers, and “fire smarting” your property.

There will be information packages available about:

Fire Smart

Neighbourhood Emergency Preparedness

Block Watch Information from the RCMP

as well as many other important topics for our community!

This is an all-ages event for the whole family with lots of fun stuff for kids to explore and participate in, including a family scavenger hunt where the prize is a FREE Emergency Preparedness Kit!

We hope to see you out for a fun day of education as well as learning about the many local volunteer opportunities for you to help keep our community safe!

Now that some time has passed and everyone here has their services restored (3-10 days after the storm) we should have a quick look at the situation.

All of Gabriola and much of southern BC was affected by the winds that knocked down trees and wires, flattened buildings and cars, and generally upset humanity throughout the region.

I was off duty during for most of this period, but was able to monitor as our able Duty Officer implemented a strategy for dealing with the storm’s aftermath. Along with numerous pages for hydro fires, medical aids, ambulance assists and a structure fire, our fire crews attempted to determine how much of the island was inaccessible. While doing this, when safe to do so, they would cut up the trees to open those roads to traffic. Many places had dangerously entangled trees mixed with power and communication lines, and both they and the highways crews were unable to clear those roads. It was important to establish which areas were inaccessible and to determine alternate response routes if possible, before the callouts came in.

By the second day, it was apparent the power wouldn’t be back on soon, and the RDN opened an emergency comfort site at the Rollo seniors centre. This provided a place of warmth, a tea or coffee, and information that helped people make decisions about how to cope with this situation. A message was sent out via email, phone, text and radio to inform residents it was operating. I believe the RDN will be further working on improving this strategy for next time.

Over at the Coop gas station an issue with their newly installed generator meant it was unable to operate at full power, which restricted normal services and caused them to have to close at dark. (In future outages the generator will be operating correctly, and they anticipate normal services and operating hours.)

Their power situation no doubt created the ‘fuel shortage’ concerns which prompted the long lineups. Coop staff were “corralling cats”, as one person called it, trying to maintain order and safety while cars darted around and created some mayhem while lining up along North road, past Robert’s restaurant. The next day they moved the lineup to Lockinvar, and it was a much safer situation. With a limited staff they did an admirable job under trying circumstances.

I was told that, even with those extra fuel sales, the fuel supplies were expected to have lasted until they received the scheduled delivery on Wednesday. As well, a discussion was initiated with BC Ferries regarding the possibility of a special dangerous cargo sailing on the Monday, had their been a danger of running out.

(Incidentally, if for any reason the fuel supplies are severely depleted, a certain percentage will be reserved for fire department, ambulance and police vehicles.)

These extended episodes always stimulate a desire in some for more emergency planning. Usually that desire wanes considerably once the power comes back on. What percentage of the population is prepared to be self sufficient for a week, which is the official recommendation? Single digits is my guess.

Still, it’s clearly prudent to give some thought to how ones basic needs will be met, and/or to consider alternative strategies for various disasters or disruptions. As a starting point, check out what we pay some of our tax dollars toward. The RDN site – www.rdn.bc.ca/emergency has a lot of linformation. There is also Emergency Social Services (ESS) information in our Gabriola phone directory. (Page 77) The contact information for our ESS group is there. They are happy to provide local info and even arrange neighbourhood meetings.

Being prepared can help make these situations, if not fun, at least less uncomfortable. With the changes going on in our world we are told to expect more disruption. I think the secret is to remember these inconveniences while the power is still on- and make some preparations for the next time.

Another extremely dry fire season has now passed, with very few actual fire related emergencies on our Island. IMO, much of the thanks goes to our citizens, who generally are not afraid to inform someone of the error of their ways, and / or report potentially hazardous situations, allowing our Duty Officer to be paged to respond in real time.

Today is Shakeout BC, our Province’s day to practice and give some forethought to a major earthquake that may occur at some point in our lives, and to do our best to be prepared for it, should it occur.

At 10:18 this morning, my cell phone buzzed with a text, indicating this was a test of the RDN’s Emergency Notification System, and we should Drop, Cover, and Hold on.

In a real earthquake, or wildfire or any other event that the public needs to be quickly informed of, more detailed information would likely be included in the message.

Residents and visitors are encouraged to sign up to receive these alerts.

If you haven’t already, please go to:

rdnemergency.connectrocket.com

There you will be asked to fill out your personal contact details.

While we are on the subject, give some thought to your own family’s response to various emergencies.

Make sure your smoke detectors are clean and functioning.

Ensure you and your children know at least 2 ways to escape from various parts of your home and where to safely meet.

Think through at least 2 escape routes from your neighbourhood as well, in case of the need to evacuate.

Fire extinguishers are always a good idea to have on hand. The Fire Dept sells them at cost-$45 including tax. We will even teach you how to use. Call firehall No.1 on Church st. to arrange a time to get one. (250-247-9677)

Last Wednesday, July 25, our pagers went off for a structure fire on North road. As all of our FFs were heading for the fire hall, a second page came through, standing down our department, as the fire was on Mudge Island.

The relief of not having a structure fire to contend with on this extremely dry July morning quickly changed to concern, as Mudge doesn’t have an actual fire dept.

A small band of locals known as MICS, the Mudge Island Citizens Society, have undertaken the task of acquiring equipment and training for a day like that morning.

As I drove onto Brickyard beach, I saw how urgent the developing scenario appeared. A wide plume of black smoke rose into the sky . Occasional flares of orange flames indicating that trees were candling. The plume seemed to be getting wider as I watched. Luckily there was no wind to spread it faster.

Within a few minutes, I could hear a siren from across the water. The retired Gabriola fire engine No.3 was responding, along with their other two trucks.

I knew the BC Wildfire Service would have been contacted as well. In a remarkably short period of time, the black smoke started to turn grey and patchy white, indicating water was being shot onto the fire.

A helicopter appeared and did a couple of loops around the fire site, then disappeared. There had been a second fire call on another island, and after reporting on the Mudge fire, it flew off to assess the other one.

Two more helicopters soon arrived and deployed Bambi buckets, which scooped up seawater and made numerous runs dousing the fire. It was less than an hour after the fire started that the heli’s were dropping water, which IMO, is a pretty reasonable time for outside support crews to be active on a scene.

Later on, sprinklers were set up, and and the sound of a Wajax fire pump roared on until the next morning- to the reported chagrin of one Gabriolan.

MICS is to be commended for the great job they did containing the fire until the helicopters could deliver their payloads. Without them, the likelihood of a great deal more fire damage was a certainty. They deserve the support they get from fellow Mudgekins and others who have contributed to support this most essential endeavour.

This Saturday, MICS will be hosting their annual fundraiser, the money being used to keep them in business. With this past weeks event still fresh in everyone’s minds, I suspect this may be a very successful event.

With the recent time change, this is a perfect time to change the battery in your smoke alarm. Batteries should be changed every six months, so taking care of it when you change your clocks is a great idea.

The GVFD is pleased to be able to provide you with free 9V batteries for your smoke alarms. Just stop by the Albert Reed Memorial Firehall, 730 Church Street, between 10-3, Tuesday through Friday.

In addition to installing new batteries every six months, you should test your smoke alarms monthly, and ensure that they are clean, and free of dust. If you would like more information about smoke alarms, please contact the GVFD.

For more information on fire related topics, come visit us at the fire hall Open House, on April 14th, 2018. We can talk to you about smoke alarms, the FireSmart program, fire extinguishers (they’re for sale too), and many other things. We will also try to have a few firefighters ready to demonstrate our new live fire training building!

Open House times and activities will be advertised closer to April 14th.

Recently, we have had discussions with RDN representatives regarding the establishment of a site where local land clearing and fire smarting debris could be delivered and processed. Unfortunately those discussions have not proved fruitful, and some uncomfortable realities are starting to manifest.

Our fire protect district regulations reflect provincial rules, which, amongst other things, does not permit the burning of land clearing debris on a property without adequate clearances from neighbouring properties. A 100m buffer is required before a permit can be issued to burn a Class A pile (which is a machine built pile larger than 2Mx2Mx2M (6’x6’x6′) containing stumps and debris larger than 4″ in diameter, as well as the fine fuels). To make matters worse, it is illegal to transport that debris to another unauthorized location to burn it. For many years we had a safe and effective authorized burn site on the island but that is no longer operational.

This puts many of the 600 or so remaining undeveloped properties in a problem situation, as the only remaining options are chipping it and using the chips on site (maximum depth 6″), or trucking the debris to Nanaimo to an accredited disposal site. Both of these options are much more expensive than burning, but they are the only options many property owners are currently left with.

Another less than satisfactory solution has started to be seen- piling the debris on the property which retains the fuel load and the potential fire risks. Separating the larger debris such as stumps and piling them is not a problem, as they are very unlikely to catch fire on their own, and have been used in some places to build stump fences.

The fine fuels do present a problem, as these are easily ignited twigs, branches and needles. One method is to bury the debris, thereby creating a situation where it is less likely to have a fire start, but this route- like chipping- does create the potential for the leachate to mix with the surrounding ground water, and possibly become an environmental issue for wells etc.

In conclusion, because the fire dept strongly discourages the piling of debris, trucking it off island appears to be the best- but most expensive- solution to dispose of this debris.

We remain hopeful that a suitable on island solution can be found for this increasing problem. Perhaps there will be enough public interest to convince the RDN to have another look into this situation.

When there’s an emergency affecting our region, you’ll want to know what’s going on and what you should do. We’re here to tell you about a new way to get the information you need.

The Regional District of Nanaimo is launching a service that will keep you informed about emergency situations. This is the RDN Emergency Notification System – you can sign up for it by providing your phone number and email address. When there is a major emergency affecting our area, the system will call and email you to let you to give you emergency alerts and updates.

Questions? An RDN representative will be at our Albert Reed Memorial Fire Hall, 730 Church Street, on Saturday, May 13th, from 1 to 4pm for our open house. You’ll be able to sign up for the system there, if you like, and ask questions as well.

It’s time for another open house! Come join us at the Albert Reed Memorial Fire Hall, 730 Church Street, from 1-4pm, on May 13th.

Gabriola firefighters will be there to talk about ways to FireSmart your property before the warm, dry summer weather gets here. We will also have a wood chipper on site, so you can see how simple it is to use. Chipping is a great alternative to burning all those pesky branches that are cluttering up your yard. We have lots of FireSmart brochures, and are happy to discuss them with you.

Effective CPR save lives. Want to learn basic, compression-only CPR? Give us 30 minutes, and we will teach you, let you practice, and have a quick discussion about the automatic external defibrillators that are in more and more public areas. Heart & Stroke Foundation Instructors, Jethro and Dimitri will be hosting CPR instruction every 1/2 hour during the Open House.

Do you have fire extinguishers at home or work? Do you know how to use them safely? Stop by and learn how to use an extinguisher properly. Need an extinguisher? We have them for sale at a great price.

We’ll also have one of our trucks set up with hoses flowing water for the kids (of all ages) to check out and try.

Just want to stop by and meet some of Gabriola’s firefighters and first responders? You can do that too. We’ll show you around the trucks, and answer any questions you may have.

PLEASE!! Please ensure your smoke alarms are less than 10 years old and are functioning properly. If you are not sure or are unable to check, we will check them for you. Just call us. Few things can wreak havock on a small community like this situation, so please help to ensure it never happens here.

So, as of this writing, it appears to be settled. The tug towing the too tall crane on a barge that took out the power lines over Dodds Narrows did not drag an anchor and take out an undersea cable – and all of our phone and data lines. Those lines were overhead, and went crashing down along with our power lines

Nevertheless, it was a major awakening to everyone here, as every service on the island was affected. With landline phones not able to reach any off island numbers and many local numbers, and our notoriously inadequate local cell service further compromised by the power outage, people found their ability to reach out was non-existent for most part.

The partial solution that was able to be provided by the GVFD was to man the Firehall, 24 hrs a day until all the systems were up again. The firehall still had the radio communications to reach the dispatchers in Nanaimo, who would forward info as required to and from other agencies, such as the BC Ambulance dispatch. This of course, resulted in a situation were, as a last resort, someone would need to physically come to the Firehall to call for help.

We all owe a big thank you to Paul Giffin and Rich Williams, two of our Gabriola Emergency Communications group, who also work in alliance with the Coastal Emergency Communications group. They did the lions share of manning the hall for all these days and nights. The GEC radio room, established in the lower level of the new Firehall has proven to be a great asset for our community!

Now that things are back to normal, I think it would be a great time for the community to overview how people were affected, beyond the obvious, and see what practical solutions could be enacted to help improve the situation for the next time. A good start would be to learn about our Neighbourhood emergency planning and our Emergency Social Services programs. Neighbours helping neighbours. They have many thoughtful, time tested considerations on how to help survive more comfortably during such an episode.

We were lucky this time, as the weather was relatively warm. But that accident could have just as easily happened during a cold and blustery January storm, when helicopters couldn’t fly for a week or more, to repair the damage. We all need to be ready for that one.

The exercise called Coastal Response has now concluded. This was the largest simulated emergency exercise ever held in the Province. The scenario was a magnitude 9 earthquake off the west coast of Vancouver Island. Multiple agencies participated in the event some of which were Provincial Government agencies, the Canadian Forces, the Salvation Army, other Federal Government agencies and amateur radio. In addition to British Columbia the US states of Washington, Oregon and Idaho also participated in the US drill called Cascadia Rising.

Due to the fact that Port Alberni “went dark” for 24 hours after the event communications needed to be established. “ Going Dark” means all the usual forms of communications, cell phones, telephone lines, satellite phones suffer degradation causing the loss of communications. To assist with communications amateur radio stations were set up at the Emergency Operations Centre, the “Mass Casualty Centre,” the Reception Centres, the “temporary residence” and the food centre. All of these stations were in Port Alberni. In addition amateur radio stations outside the affected area were established. Locally the Nanaimo Emergency Operations Centre and the Gabriola Fire Hall emergency communications centre were activated.

The Nanaimo and Gabriola stations established contact with the Provincial Regional Emergency Communications Centres of Emergency Management British Columbia in Victoria and Kamloops.

The Nanaimo station was stood down around noon on day one after it was determined there was “no local damage from the initial event or aftershocks” The Gabriola station remained active all day on day one. Activity resumed on day two until the evening of day two when communications in Port Alberni were “reestablished” The Gabrola station became a central hub for digital communications between Port Alberni and the Operations Centre in Victoria. and on the evening of day two coordinated two different communications check ins involving amateur radio stations from around the Province.

A total of four radio operators were active in the Gabriola Station during this event.

The Gabriola station continues to look for volunteers to assist with the operations of the station. They are also in need of funds to purchase equipment in order that assistance can be provided to Gabriola Island and others.

If you are interested in become part of this group please send an email to va7mpg@gmail.com

As our island gets dryer, our wildfire hazard rating climbs, and further restrictions are enacted. At this writing we are at High Regular shift, but are anticipating a further raising of the hazard rating to High Early shift this week. All of the definitions and restrictions can be found on the wildfire hazard ratings of our website, gabriolafire.ca.

At these next higher levels ALL outdoor burning is banned, but propane and briquet BBQs and Hibatchis, as well as propane fireplaces ( 6″ flame maximum) are still allowed. Great care must be taken and fire fighting precautions must be at hand.

Most forms of powered equipment usage stops at 1 pm and a full hour of observation (watchman) is mandatory following any work.

If you spot a situation that concerns you, call the GVFD Duty Officer at 250-755-9289 in real time to investigate.

If you are not able to connect due to our poor cell service, call 911 and ask the operator to page the Gabriola fire department duty officer for you.

Should you see some idiot throwing cigarette butts from a vehicle, take down the license plate and car description, location etc, and report it to the RCMP ASAP.

While we await Emcon’s mower to arrive to cut the grass on the road sides, be aware that parking your vehicle in such dry grass could result in a serious fire from your hot exhaust. An exhaust system that is damages or even a trailer safety chain dragging on the ground can throw a shower of sparks as well, and numerous serious fires have been started in BC from these forms of carelessness over the years.

Carrying a dry chemical 5 lb. ABC fire extinguisher in your car during this dry season is a very good idea. (We sell good quality fire extinguishers at our cost at the firehall. Call us at 250-247-9677 if you’d like to buy one.)

Your actions could make the difference between a scary situation and a disaster. Always have someone call 911 and report a fire as soon as you see one – before deciding if it is safe to attempt extinguishing it. This gives an earlier heads up to us and gets our fire trucks rolling more quickly.

Gabriola’s safety is in all of our hands, and firefighters really appreciate your assistance.

Effective immediately, the Regional District of Nanaimo will be levying a fine of $1000 against the title of any property that doesn’t have an adequate address sign displayed next to the property’s primary access point. ‘Adequate’ means visible day or night by a vehicle approaching from either direction.

Emergency responders have long spoken of the frustration of trying to find the location of situations they have been paged to attend to, often dangerously delaying help to those in need. Repeated requests in the media appear to have fallen on deaf ears, so this drastic measure has been invoked to ensure compliance.

We would like to thank RDN Area B director Howard Houle for his diligence in this matter and for ensuring that enforcement would begin by today.

Fire extinguishers come in all kinds of sizes, and contain many different extinguishing agents.

Pressurized water, some with chemical additives, pressurized carbon dioxide (CO2), pressurized Halon gases are some special purpose examples, but the most commonly found extinguishers are pressurized dry chemical, which contain a variety of powders, some that are similar to baking soda.

Dry Chem, as they are known, extinguishers typically are rated for use on 3 of the 4 types of fires commonly found in homes – A,B, and C .

‘A’ fires are paper, wood, ‘B’ are oil and grease, and ‘C’ are energized electrical fires. ‘D’ fires, which are burning metals, like aluminum or magnesium, are generally not found outside of industry , or a well involved vehicle fire.

(A quick word on grease fires- never try to move a burning pan of hot oil, sliding a dry lid over the pan usually will extinguish it without further drama. Be sure to turn off the element as well.)

All extinguishers are very user friendly, and with a little knowledge, very effective. The ‘PASS’ word is all you will need to remember should you be faced with a fire and have made the personal decision to safely try to extinguish it.

-Pull the safety pin

-Aim at the base of the fire ( not the top of the Flames)

-Squeeze the handle gently to start the discharge of suppressant

-Sweep gently side to side over the seat of the fire.

Most fires in the start up phase (incipient) require a relatively small amount of suppressant to be extinguished, so use one second blasts and monitor the results, rather than dumping the entire contents all at once. The extinguisher does not create a lot of back pressure, so do not fear being knocked over when discharging.

Fire extinguishers have to be examined to ensure they are still functional, and haven’t been tampered with. The gauge should read full and the pin retaining plastic tie should be intact.

They should be mounted in an easy to reach location that is near an exit, so you aren’t seaching in a cabinet while the fire gets bigger and blocks your escape.

All extinguishers need immediate attention once they have been used, do not hang it up again as it will not work the next time.

After 6 years they need to be professionally examined, and at 12 years they need it again as well as having a pressure test.

This only applies to quality fire extinguishers with metal discharge valves. The ones with plastic valves are throw away items after 6 years.

The GVFD sells top quality fire extinguishers at Firehall 1, so give us a call- 250-247-9677. If you would like a personal lesson, we can do that too.

We recently responded to a call to extricate an injured person from the 707 park. It was just after dark when a neighbour heard faint calls for help from well inside that location. Had those calls not been heard – at best- it would had resulted in a much longer wait until they were discovered.

I strongly encourage carrying a cell phone while out in our less travelled areas. Aside from being injured while alone, having to leave an injured friend or pet to get help would be equally traumatic for all involved. Ironically, the 707 park is one part of Gabriola that does get an adequate cell signal.